K-61 (Kansas highway)

K-61
Route information
Maintained by KDOT
Length:	80.0 mi[1] (128.7 km)
Existed:	1932[1] – present
Major junctions
South end:	US-54 / US-400 in Pratt
North end:	I-135 / US-81 / US-81 Bus. south of McPherson
Location
Counties:	Pratt, Reno, McPherson
Highway system
Kansas numbered highways ← K-60 K-62 →

K-61 is a Kansas state highway originating at US-54 and US-400 on the east side of Pratt. Signed as a north–south highway, K-61 is a diagonal highway running southwest and northeast. K-61 is 80 miles (130 km) long.

Route description

K-61 runs through or beside the towns of Preston, Turon, Langdon (unincorporated) and Partridge before beginning a six-mile (10 km) concurrency with US-50. It has a short concurrency with K-14 in and near Arlington.

After breaking to the northeast from US-50, K-61 goes through the east side of Hutchinson (Where it is signed locally as the Ken Kennedy Freeway^[2]). It goes beside Medora (unincorporated) and Inman before ending at I-135/US-81 south of McPherson.

Its last two miles share a "wrong-way" concurrency with Business US-81.

K-61 is a two-lane highway from its south end until it meets US-50, and a four-lane highway for the rest of its route.

It has controlled access interchanges (with US-50) at North K-96, west of Hutchinson; South K-96, also signed To K-17 in South Hutchinson. After breaking away from US-50, K-61 has controlled access interchanges at Avenue A in Hutchinson, 56th Avenue in Hutchinson, 85th Avenue/Medora Road north of Hutchinson, Cherokee Road in Inman, and K-153, Spur K-153 and Business US-81 all in McPherson.

History

K-61 was commissioned by 1932.^[1] It appears on the 1932 state highway map.^[3] K-61 originally ended in Hutchinson at US-50. Sometime between 1956 and 1962, K-61 was extended on a previous routing of K-17 between Hutchinson and McPherson.^[4]

Four-lane expansion

In a project lasting several years,^[5][6][7] the Kansas Department of Transportation turned the northern part of K-61 from Hutchinson to McPherson into a four-lane expressway.^[8][9] Some intersections were changed to controlled-access interchanges, and the number of at-grade intersections was reduced. The original route went through Medora and Inman, but the new route bypasses both, west of its original route. As of August 2012 all lanes are open to traffic. The new section of the highway has been designated the John Neal Memorial Highway in memory of a major advocate of the project.^[10]

References

Kansas Department of Transportation. Official State Transportation Map (Map) (2007-2008 ed.). http://www.ksdot.org/burtransplan/maps/state-pdf/kansas0506.pdf. Retrieved 2008-05-05.

External links

• KDOT State Map